There are no sentiments in the world of professional cycling, and even being the Vuelta a Espana champion cannot change this simple principle. The 42-year old Chris Horner has to be considered as a one of the biggest names left on the market without a team for the upcoming season, and there are no signs suggesting the situation should suddenly change.

As it was reported on cyclingnews.com, American cyclist tried to reunite with his former Lotto-Belisol team when it became clear there were no chances for him to stay in the ranks of RadioShack, after they closed a deal with new sponsor Trek. Horner rode in the outfit of Lotto-Belisol, then sponsored by Davitamon, for two consecutive seasons before he joined Astana in 2008, and finally Radioshack to achieve his biggest success in 2013 Vuelta a Espana, as a rider of the American team.

"I saw his agent Michael Rutherford several times at the Vuelta and he knew it was not easy. I said to him whatever offer you give me I'll say no because it's not in our strategy and we don't have too much money to pay him."

Even though Lotto-Belisol manager, Marc Sergeant, expressed sympathy and understanding for Horner’s difficult situation, he left the American without any illusions concerning his eventual return to the Belgian team. Having signed some of the highly promising riders for upcoming seasons in the likes of Tony Gallopin or Maxime Monfort, there was no way for Horner to fit in, should the strategy adopted by Sergeant strongly support his young stars.

"We worked together for two years but now on that money, at his age, he can't fit in our team," Sergeant told Cyclingnews

"We're looking at giving chances to young guys with potential and we live up to the goals of André Greipel, Gallopin, and Jurgen Van den Broek, so Horner wasn't suited to that."

"Another part of the issue is that no teams need the points. Before it was a problem to be in top 15 teams but now that problem has gone. It's not like it was two or three years ago."